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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of children diagnosed with autism has increased dramatically, especially over the past decade. Most recently, the CDC estimates that an average of one in 88 children have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In terms of numbers, this translates into approximately 730,000 people between the ages of 0 and 21 who have ASD. While the primary cause(s) of increases in the identification of autistic students continue to generate debate school officials across the nation need to be prepared for the changing legal landscape associated with children diagnosed with ASD. The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide a detailed legal/policy update of the leading legal considerations and concerns involving K-12 students with autism. The chapter will discuss four specific legal topics involving the identification and eligibility of K-12 students with autism. These four legal topics include: Changes in the New DSM-5 Diagnostic Manuel and its Impact on Legal Definitions of Autism; Insurance Reform and Autism Coverage: A Comparison of the States; Developing Legally Compliant Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for High-Functioning Students with Autism, and; Recent Legal Developments in Case Law Involving K-12 students who are autistic. The chapter will conclude with a detailed discussion of how today’s school officials can become more legally literate and better serve the legal needs of students with autism in their schools.

Purpose – This chapter discusses the proposed changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), which eliminates Asperger's disorder (AD) and replaces it as “autism spectrum disorder.” Implications of these changes on the identity of adults with AD and the influence of everyday life experiences will be addressed.

Methodology/approach – This research is based on 19 interviews with adults diagnosed or self-diagnosed with AD. Central themes surrounding issues of identity and everyday life experiences were determined using grounded theory approaches.

Findings – This study demonstrates how the diagnosis and self-diagnosis of AD is fused with individual identity. It also shows how Asperger identity is positively embraced. The proposed changes to eliminate AD in DSM-V threaten these assertions of Asperger identity, which could potentially enhance stigma experienced by people with AD. Regardless of its removal, Asperger identity must be considered within the broader context of people's everyday lives and how experiences in social interaction and communication can be strong agents of identity construction.

Social implications – The proposed changes to eliminate AD in DSM-V is a social issue that will impact individuals with Asperger's and their families, as well as health-care professionals, health insurers, researchers, state agencies, and educational providers.

Originality/value of paper – This chapter offers a unique insight into identity construction based on the diagnosis and self-diagnosis of AD.

This chapter is a comprehensive discussion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the globe (e.g., United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Turkey). Topics that are discussed include the following: diagnostic criteria and approaches; international perspectives of ASD; western and eastern assessment practices; cultural considerations of assessment of ASD; educational and medical interventions; behavioral and emotional interventions; complementary and alternative medical interventions; variations in educational services among countries; early intervention practices; adult services; national and international resources; and current needs and future directions.

In this book it was proposed that autistic females and African American autistics are usually not participants in autistic research because they rarely receive an autism diagnosis. If diagnostic services were made more congenial for autistics from these groups, then the prospect of them being diagnosed as autistic and being available to be research participants would increase. To help achieve this outcome, this chapter begins by presenting some typical barriers that autistics encounter when trying to access autism diagnostic services. This is followed by an explanation of some consequences of this exclusion for autistics, their families and the research community. In an attempt to mitigate these consequences, and to increase the pool of potential autistic candidates for research, this chapter concludes with a series of suggestions to improve the public's accessibility to autism diagnostic services as well as suggestions for improving the autism diagnostic process for both children and adults.

The contribution that this chapter makes to the field of autism spectrum research is to provide clinicians with some important concepts that will help autistics feel valued and accepted during the diagnostic process. A potential flow-on effect of this knowledge is that more autistics who have experienced feeling valued and accepted by clinicians will be more inclined to be involved in research.

Professionals working with community populations are often presented with complicated cases where it is difficult to determine which diagnosis or diagnoses are appropriate. Differentiating among neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disability can be a complex process, especially, as these disorders have some overlapping symptoms and often co-occur in young children. This series of case studies aims to present commonly overlapping symptoms in children who present to clinics with developmental concerns.

This paper presents three case studies that were completed at a free community ASD screening clinic in Southern California.

The case studies have common presenting behaviors and symptoms (e.g. social communication difficulties) that often co-occur across diagnoses; explanations for the final diagnoses are given in each case.

Conclusions from these three cases cannot generalize to all children being seen in clinics for neurodevelopmental concerns.

This series of case studies highlights commonly overlapping symptoms in children who present for differential diagnosis with social and/or behavioral concerns. Implications for educational placement and intervention are discussed.

These cases highlight the challenges involved in the differential and dual diagnostic process for young children with developmental concerns. Diagnostic considerations can affect later educational placement and opportunities for socialization.

This series of case studies provide practical information for clinicians about how to effectively differentiate between commonly occurring neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly given recent changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edition (DSM-5).

The purpose of the study is to identify and ascertain if there were any validated tools for diagnosing or screening autism spectrum disorder in adults with ID. The estimated prevalence of intellectual disability (ID) in the general population is about 10.37/1,000 population (Maulik et al., 2011). In total, 1 out of 4 individuals with ID suffers from an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Sappok et al., 2010). Early diagnosis and support for ASD is key to having a good quality of life. The diagnosis of ASD in people with an ID presents its own challenges and it is likely under-identification of ASD amongst adults with ID by about 20% to 30% (Emerson and Baines, 2010).

Studies were selected based on the following criteria: studies that reported either screening or diagnostic tools for ASD, participants had an ID i.e. a mean IQ of <70, adults i.e. participants were >18 years of age at the time of entry to the study and articles reported either sensitivity, specificity or area under the curve. Relevant studies that were published up to January 2020 were identified from EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and PubMed. In total, 75 papers were identified of which 15 papers met the criteria.

The screening or diagnostic tools currently in use is dependant on the degree of ID. A number of the tools had good psychometric properties and utility when used in people with specific degrees of ID or when used in combination with another screening or diagnostic tool. The authors could not identify a diagnostic tool that could be used across all levels of severity of ID unless used in combination. Hence, concluded that there is a need for a diagnostic tool with good psychometric properties for the assessment of ASD in adults with all degree of ID within a reasonable time period without the need for an additional tool to be used in conjunction.

Currently, the “gold standard” for diagnosing ASD is a lengthy and time-consuming process carried out by trained multi-disciplinary team members who assess historical, behavioural and parent/carer report to arrive at a diagnosis. There are a number of tools that have been developed to aid diagnosis. However, it is important to identify the tools that can optimise the procedures and are also time-efficient.

Estimates of the prevalence of AS in children throughout the entire population of the United States are highly limited and greatly variable. Ozonoff, Dawson, and McPartland (2002) stated that estimates of AS range from 0.2 to 0.5% (or 2–5 individuals in 1,000), while Volkmar and Klin (2000) cited studies reporting rates of 36 in 1,000 to approximately 1 in 10,000. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (2000), fourth edition (DSM-IV-TR), states that “definitive data about the prevalence of Asperger Syndrome does not exist.”

This study aims to examine the impact that diagnostic factors such as duration of diagnostic period, number of professionals consulted and perceived social support have on parental stress during the diagnostic process of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Forty parents of 2–18 year-old children/adolescents with a formal ASD diagnosis recruited from five specialized private clinics in Lisbon completed a survey which included diagnostic questionnaire, parental stress scale and social support scale from April to December 2022.

Data analysis indicated that the mean age of the diagnosis was 5.6 years with a delay of 3.95 years from first concern until final diagnosis. On average, parents consulted a mean of 3.62 professionals. Other findings indicated that as age of parents increased, levels of parental stress decreased. Parents with higher levels of social support had lower levels of parental stress. Furthermore, higher age of child at first concern predicted higher affective social support.

This study reflects on the experience of obtaining the ASD diagnosis in Portugal, raising awareness on the importance of providing early detection and social support for distressed parents.

The purpose of this paper is to review the barriers that girls and women face in receiving an accurate and timely autism diagnosis. The journey to late-in-life diagnosis will be explored with a focus on mental health and well-being. The aim is to improve the awareness of the female autism phenotype to provide access to early identification and appropriate supports and services.

The author’s clinical experience as an individual, couple and family therapist specializing in girls and women with autism informs the paper. Research on co-occurring mental health experience and diagnoses are reviewed and combined with case examples to outline the themes leading to and obscuring autism diagnosis.

Females with autism are less likely to be diagnosed or are identified much later than their male counterparts. Living with unidentified autism places significant mental strain on adults, particularly females. Achieving a late-in-life diagnosis is very valuable for adults and can improve self-awareness and access to limited support.

Mental health professionals will develop a better understanding of the overlap between autism and psychiatric conditions and should consider autism in females who are seeking intervention.

This paper provides a clinical approach to working with autistic girls and women. This knowledge can complement the existing research literature and help build the foundation for a greater understanding of the female autism phenotype.

Currently, most research about the autism spectrum has examined Caucasian autistics. Consequently, African American autistics have not received much attention from scholars. This chapter begins with an overview of statistics from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the population of Black and Latino autistics in the United States from 2000 to 2016. Plausible reasons for why there is a lack of research about African American autistics are then presented along with a section about the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in autism spectrum research. Four strategies that can improve the production of research about African American autistics are then presented. The purpose of presenting these strategies is to help stimulate the production of research about African American autistics.

The original contribution that this chapter makes to the field of autism spectrum research is to inform the reader about the lack of research about African American autistics in comparison to other ethnicities.